PARALLAX Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (/ˈniːtʃə/[1] or /ˈniːtʃi/;[2] German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈniːt͡sʃə]; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, cultural critic, poet, composer and Latin and Greek scholar. He wrote several critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, displaying a fondness for metaphor[3] and irony. Nietzsche's key ideas include perspectivism, the will to power, the death of God, the Übermensch and eternal recurrence. One of the key tenets of his philosophy is "life-affirmation", which embraces the realities of the world in which we live over the idea of a world beyond. Nietzsche began his career as a classical philologist—a scholar of Greek and Roman textual criticism—before turning to philosophy. As his caretaker, his sister assumed the roles of curator and editor of Nietzsche's manuscripts. Life[edit] Youth (1844–69)[edit] Nietzsche in his younger days In 1866, he read Friedrich Albert Lange's History of Materialism.
Allegory of the Cave Plato realizes that the general run of humankind can think, and speak, etc., without (so far as they acknowledge) any awareness of his realm of Forms. The allegory of the cave is supposed to explain this. In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. From Great Dialogues of Plato (Warmington and Rouse, eds.) Here are some students’ illustrations of Plato’s Cave Go back to lecture on the Phaedo Go back to lecture on the “One Over Many” Argument Go to next lecture on Criticism of Forms Need a quick review of the Theory of Forms? Return to the PHIL 320 Home Page Copyright © 2006, S.
mental_floss Blog & Wacky Sci-Fi "Laws" Sci-Fi writers seem to enjoy coining Laws: adages bearing their own names that live on past their appearances in Sci-Fi stories. Here are five of my favorites, plus one bonus law (actually a Principle) from the world of cartoons. 1. Hanlon's Razor (aka Hanlon's Law) "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." 2. "Ninety percent of everything is crap." 3. Finagle's Law is a variant of Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong, will -- at the worst possible moment. "The perversity of the Universe tends towards a maximum." See also: the second law of thermodynamics. 4. Arthur C. First law: When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. 5. Forming the basis for Isaac Asimov's fictional universe, these laws for robotic behavior have been the source of much Sci-Fi drama (I, Robot anyone?) There's also a Zeroth Law. 6. If that's not enough for you, check out Wikipedia's list of eponymous laws.
StumbleUpon Zeno's "Paradox of the Arrow" passage from Biocentrismby Robert Lanza M.D.Related Posts:The Paradox Of The Infinite CircleThe Liar ParadoxThe Barber Paradox Tags: paradoxes Posted in Time Comments It's just an exercise in logic by an ancient philosopher. Critias (dialogue) Timaeus Unlike the other speakers of the Critias, it is unclear whether Timaeus is a historical figure or not. While some classicists regard him as definitively historical,[3] others guess that "Plato's picture of him has probably borrowed traits from various quarters".[4] Frank assumes Archytas of Tarentum to be the person which Timaeus is partly based on.[5] On the other hand, F. Critias The latter group argues that there is too much distance of time between the oligarch Critias (460 – 403 BC) and Solon (638 – 558 BC), the famous lawmaker, who supposedly brought the Atlantis story from Egypt to Greece.[12] According to Plato, Solon told the story to the great-grandfather of the Critias appearing in this dialogue, Dropides, who then told it to his son, who was also named Critias and the grandfather of the Critias in the dialogue. On the other hand, this obviously too long time span between Solon and Critias would not be the only anachronism in Plato's work. Socrates Hermocrates Atlantis
Timaeus (dialogue) Participants in the dialogue include Socrates, Timaeus of Locri, Hermocrates, and Critias. Some scholars believe that it is not the Critias of the Thirty Tyrants who is appearing in this dialogue, but his grandfather, who is also named Critias.[1][2][3] Timaeus begins with a distinction between the physical world, and the eternal world. The physical one is the world which changes and perishes: therefore it is the object of opinion and unreasoned sensation. The speeches about the two worlds are conditioned by the different nature of their objects. Timaeus suggests that since nothing "becomes or changes" without cause, then the cause of the universe must be a demiurge or a god, a figure Timaeus refers to as the father and maker of the universe. Timaeus continues with an explanation of the creation of the universe, which he ascribes to the handiwork of a divine craftsman. First of all, the world is a living creature. Medieval manuscript of Calcidius' Latin Timaeus translation.
Platos "The Allegory of the Cave": A Summary "In fact, you get pretty good at understanding how the patterns in the show work, and everyone else chained up is like, 'Holy shit bro, how did you know that that tree was going to fall on that guy?' and you're like, 'It's because I fucking pay attention and I'm smart as shit.' You're the smartest of the chained, and they all revere you." Glaucon: "But Socrates, a tree didn't really hit a guy. It's all shadows." Socrates: "No shit, Glaucon, but you don't know that. "So eventually, someone comes and unchains you and drags you out of the cave. "Slowly, as your eyes got better, you'd see more and more shit. "Finally you'd want to go down and tell everyone about everything you've discovered. "Philosophy, same thing.
The Dalai Lama's 18 Rules For Living May 6, 2011 | 42 Comments » | Topics: Life, List At the start of the new millennium the Dalai Lama apparently issued eighteen rules for living. Since word travels slowly in the digital age these have only just reached me. Here they are. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. via OwenKelly Hot Stories From Around The Web Other Awesome Stories Top 25 Ayn Rand Quotes - Top 10 Lists | Listverse Politics Ayn Rand, was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher. She is widely known for her best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism. She was an uncompromising advocate of rational individualism and laissez-faire capitalism, and vociferously opposed socialism, altruism, and other contemporary philosophical trends. She is generally either hated or loved. Her objectivist philosophy had a strong influence on the evolution of the Libertarian political philosophy movement (though she rejected the title). Quotes 1 – 5 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Quotes 6 – 10 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Quotes 11 – 15 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Quotes 16 – 20 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Quotes 21 – 25 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. Jamie Frater Jamie is the founder of Listverse.
List of paradoxes This is a list of paradoxes, grouped thematically. The grouping is approximate, as paradoxes may fit into more than one category. Because of varying definitions of the term paradox, some of the following are not considered to be paradoxes by everyone. This list collects only scenarios that have been called a paradox by at least one source and have their own article. Although considered paradoxes, some of these are based on fallacious reasoning, or incomplete/faulty analysis. Logic[edit] Self-reference[edit] These paradoxes have in common a contradiction arising from self-reference. Barber paradox: A barber (who is a man) shaves all and only those men who do not shave themselves. Vagueness[edit] Ship of Theseus (a.k.a. Mathematics[edit] Statistics[edit] Probability[edit] Infinity and infinitesimals[edit] Geometry and topology[edit] The Banach–Tarski paradox: A ball can be decomposed and reassembled into two balls the same size as the original.
The L-Space Web: Death and What Comes Next The L-Space Web Copyright © Terry Pratchett 2002 When Death met the philosopher, the philosopher said, rather excitedly: "At this point, you realise, I'm both dead and not dead." There was a sigh from Death. "You see," said the philosopher, while Death, motionless, watched the sands of his life drain through the hourglass, "everything is made of tiny particles, which have the strange property of being in many places at one time. YES, BUT NOT INDEFINITELY, said Death, EVERYTHING IS TRANSIENT. "Well, then, if we agreed that there are an infinite number of universes, then the problem is solved! "What? Death nodded at the bed. "No, because there are a million versions of me, too, And...here is the good bit ...in some of them I am not about to pass away! Death tapped the handle of his scythe as he considered this. "Well, I'm not exactly dying, correct? There was a sigh from Death. "No answer, eh?" THIS IS A CONUNDRUM CERTAINLY, said Death. "What?" "Yes. "Certainly not!" ARE THERE CHOICES?
Twelve Virtues of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky by Eliezer Yudkowsky The first virtue is curiosity. A burning itch to know is higher than a solemn vow to pursue truth. To feel the burning itch of curiosity requires both that you be ignorant, and that you desire to relinquish your ignorance. The second virtue is relinquishment. The third virtue is lightness. The fourth virtue is evenness. The fifth virtue is argument. The sixth virtue is empiricism. The seventh virtue is simplicity. The eighth virtue is humility. The ninth virtue is perfectionism. The tenth virtue is precision. The eleventh virtue is scholarship. Before these eleven virtues is a virtue which is nameless. Miyamoto Musashi wrote, in The Book of Five Rings: "The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Every step of your reasoning must cut through to the correct answer in the same movement. If you fail to achieve a correct answer, it is futile to protest that you acted with propriety.